In deciding to stay away from these protests, the Brotherhood may have committed its gravest mistake to date. The footage showing a dead protester being dragged by a security officer and dumped near a rubbish heap, appearing on many satellite channels and the internet, has not only shocked and enraged Egyptians, but it has sent them out on to the streets in their thousands to protest against this outrage.

In going out they had no political calculations in mind and no gains to make. They simply wanted their voices to be heard. By staying away, the Brotherhood has sent the message that it rated its self-interest higher than Egyptian blood and its decision has angered many Egyptians, including some of its own members.

The first is that after having worked for most of its history as an underground movement, the Brotherhood has suddenly found itself exposed to the public gaze. While such exposure has afforded its members far more visibility and freedom of movement than they have ever enjoyed, it has also made them the object of public scrutiny, criticism and at times even scorn.

At one point, a prominent Brotherhood figure went so far as to speak of the organisation in terms almost of a special, superior race, urging young Muslim Brothers to marry only Muslim Sisters in order to preserve, as it were, the purity of the line. He later retracted, claiming that the statement was made in jest. But the sense of arrogance the statement conveyed could not be missed.

Second, by its very nature the Brotherhood is an autocratic organisation. It is based on an anachronistic, pseudo-military hierarchical structure that concentrates power within the hands of a few leaders at the top. The rank and file are expected to swear allegiance and follow strict orders.

It should not come as a surprise, then, that the divide between the higher echelons of authority, occupied naturally by men in their 60s or older, and the younger grassroots of the movement has grown much wider than ever before in the group's history.

Since the early days of the revolution the exodus of young members has not stopped and it is not likely to stop as long as the same power structures remain in place. In the past week, many young members have declared their resignation and many more are showing signs of dissatisfaction. While the group might have managed to uphold its non-democratic principles in the past, it is highly unlikely that the status quo can be maintained any longer.

Third, throughout the past 10 months the Brotherhood, along with other Islamist factions, were often seen to align themselves with the ruling military junta instead of siding with people's legitimate demands.

Its criticism of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces became pronounced only when the group's self-interest was at stake, such as when the supra-constitutional document was proposed, threatening to rob them of the prospect of eventually writing the constitution themselves should they win a majority vote in parliamentary elections.

Just a week ago, the Islamists in general, and the Brotherhood in particular, seemed invincible. They acted as though they were only a stone's throw away from an all-out victory in the elections set for 28 November. But the eruption of violence has thrown the elections into serious doubts, despite the official insistence that they would be held as scheduled.

While a large number of parliamentary candidates and parties have suspended their election campaigns in protest at the recent violence, the Brotherhood has decided to press ahead with its campaign. At the time when the streets around Tahrir and other squares looked like a war zone, with a large number of people falling dead or injured, all the Brotherhood could think of was the elections which they feared might be postponed or cancelled.

There is little doubt that the cumulative effects of the Brotherhood's actions and attitudes will be far-reaching both in the short and the long terms. Although speaking of an imminent disintegration of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt may seem rather fanciful at the moment, it is evident that if it continues to ignore popular sentiments as it has done, its image will suffer unspeakable damage.

Without making basic and meaningful changes to its structure and without undertaking a major revision of its discourse, the Brotherhood may well be on a slow road to nothingness. It will also need to remember that Mubarak's National Democratic party won elections and secured seats in parliament. But winning seats without a real popular mandate will only alienate the Brotherhood further from the people it claims to represent.